Eight people were charged Wednesday in New York for their roles in a retail theft ring that spanned several states and involved several kinds of goods from beef to copper.
According to the indictment, the defendants fraudulently obtained shipping information from legitimate carriers, pretended to be them when they showed up at warehouses and stole nearly $5 million in goods later sold on the black market.
When a manufacturer wants to ship large quantities of goods, they contract with a shipping broker who advertises the job online. Shipping carriers will then make bids, and the winner gets the final shipment details from the broker…